Frames of Time
by NancyDfan
Summary: Joe suffers a terrible accident, and time slips by at he ages in a coma.


**Author's Note: So…this idea came up eons ago. I was letting my mind wonder, and somehow I started to think about this. I forgot how it ended because I left it unfinished forever, but I decided to push through and finish it. It's not the greatest story, but it's bittersweet.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys.**

 **Rating: G**

2:36 am: Emergency personnel shout orders. An unidentified man lies bleeding with open wounds. They rush him forward praying he survives.

Five hours later: Joseph Irving Hardy. Age 26. The family offers the ID and huddles in the waiting room. They're tight lipped about what Joe was doing at such a late hour, but the police don't seem concerned enough to press.

Six hours later: "Joe's stable," the doctor announces after a successful surgery. But he isn't conscious, and the doctor isn't certain when Joe will awake.

Three days later: Joe slips into a coma, and his family spends every hour as a vigil in his room. The doctor offers encouraging words.

Six days later: Joe is still, and the doctor voices his fears. The family clings to hope he will awake.

One week later: Joe breathes with life support. He's settled into hospice care at the doctor's insistence. The family visits every day, but the doctor doesn't know if there's life up there.

Three weeks later: Joe shows no signs of life, and the doctor encourages the family to say their good-byes. Vigils are held daily, but the hope in their eyes is gone.

Six months later: Family visits are now once a week. Father, mother, and brother alternate each time, but the visits are brief. There is no hope Joe will show life, but they don't know how to say good-bye.

One year later: The dark haired brother is the first family the nurses have seen in months. The room has become a quiet tomb with only fresh flowers and photos to remind them there is a family. His brother sits in silence watching the still form of his brother breathe slowly. The heart monitor is the only sound echoing from the room.

Sharp ringing disturbs the silence, but it's only the brother's wife reminding him of his new life and the responsibilities it holds. He leaves abruptly, and Joe lays silently alone again.

One and a half years later: The brother is the only one visiting now. The nurses wonder why the family still pays for the care, but the tears in the brother's eyes answers all the questions.

Two years later: Even the brother's visits have grown fewer and fewer. It's Christmas before he visits again, but the room is decorated for Joe. The brother seems surprised by the effort and thanks the staff for their kindness. Their confusion is evident, and he leaves wondering who decorated Joe's room.

Two and a half years later: No family has visited in months. Joe's room remains silent with the exception of a single visitor. She visits every week dropping off new flowers in the corner of his room. She's rarely speaks except to ask for any updates. Their answer is always no, but she asks just the same.

They follow her to Joe's room one day. She's speaking to him softly, and the nurses can't avoid the temptation and listen.

"You would have loved my recent case, Joe," the woman says. "I had to skydive out of a burning plane."

She chuckles before continuing. "Dad tells me that I shouldn't be so careless, but it just doesn't seem to matter anymore."

Her shoulders shake with sobs. "Oh, Joe, why didn't I tell you the truth sooner? Why did I hide this secret from you? Maybe you wouldn't have been out there that night all alone."

She reaches out and intertwines her fingers with him. "I love you so much, Joe, and I never even had the chance to tell you."

The woman's crying becomes the only sound from the room. Each nurse backs away embarrassed at what they've seen.

She exits the room shortly after. Redness around her eyes now matches the hair pulled tightly behind her. She says nothing to the nurses before exiting the building.

They exchange a look and wonder when she'll return. It's exactly in one week when she arrives again with fresh flowers for his room. Her visit is brief, but she inquires on his condition and promises to return shortly again.

And she does. Every week like clockwork the nurses watch her arrive with fresh flowers. She decorates for Easter, Halloween, and Christmas and provides necessary clean up whenever she can. The woman always comes alone and ducks out when family arrives.

The brother almost catches her one day. It's October, and she's brought in pumpkins to display in his room. His children singing loudly alerts her, and she scurries from the room before he can make eyes on her.

When he sees the room, he starts with surprise at the pumpkins sitting on the window. He asks where they came from, and the nurse smiles sadly. "From someone who loves him very much."


End file.
